Online Marketplace Counterfeiting: Which Are The Worst Sites For Fake And Pirated Goods?

• Jurisdiction: United States,Federal
• Law Firm: Novagraaf Group
• Subject Matter: Intellectual Property, Trademark
• Author: Mr Marc-Emmanuel Mellet
• Published date: 29 March 2023

The 2022 Review of Notorious Counterfeiting and Piracy Markets by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) has assessed the volume of online marketplace counterfeiting and ranked sites by worst offender. Marc-Emmanuel Mellet summarises its findings.

According to the 2022 Review of Notorious Counterfeiting and Piracy Markets, published earlier this year by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), piracy and counterfeiting cost the US economy US$29.2 billion in revenue share in 2019 alone. In its report, the USTR sets out to highlight the most prominent examples of online and physical markets that reportedly engage in, facilitate, turn a blind eye to, or benefit from substantial piracy or counterfeiting.

Online marketplace counterfeiting: Notorious, but not yet illegal

As we previously covered in our article 'The challenge of applying 'physical' laws to online marketplaces', rights holders are stymied by difficulties applying IP laws designed for the physical realm to online infringement. While online marketplaces may claim to be victims of counterfeiting, others have sought to profit from this challenge, building complex ecosystems that use anonymisation services and choosing 'complacent' registrars and registries, as well as hosting providers renowned for non-compliance with takedown requests from right holders.

In its latest ranking, the USTR has pointed out an increase in the number of players who are brazenly complacent about IP infringement. Indeed, many have terms of use that explicitly allow the sale of illegal content on their platforms. Unsurprisingly, it is increasingly difficult for right holders to obtain the removal of online marketplace counterfeiting and other infringing content. In addition, the USTR report highlights that right holders are seeing an increase in turnkey websites or related services that offer to facilitate the set-up of infringing sites; in particular, by means of templates. The use of social media platforms and influencers to advertise infringing sites and 'dupe' products is also causing further problems.

Several leading marketplaces and social networking platforms are taking measures, however, to combat such problems with dedicated tools and teams. In publishing its 2022 Review, the USTR hopes to encourage others to follow suit.

Online marketplace counterfeiting: Which are the worst e-commerce sites?

Below is the USTR classification of e-commerce platform and marketplaces:

• AliExpress: While...